by Sean Stone
“I expected better,” Nick said. He made no move to approach Apophis, but waited in the centre of the room for the jinni to come to him.
“Oh, Nickolas,” Apophis said raggedly as he climbed to his feet. His black outfit was now grey with dust but his skin looked untouched. “This is just the beginning.”
Apophis walked forwards, his hand glowing red with magic. He threw both hands together and projected a blast of red light. Nick threw his hands up too and the red light hit a black shield and stopped. Apophis forced more and more power at Nick, but his shield held firmly. Sparks of red flew around the room, but the moment they landed Apophis drew them back into himself to be recycled. Suddenly, Nick thrust his shield forwards, the red beam reversed and smacked Apophis in the centre of the chest. He gasped and staggered backwards. Nick moved faster than a vampire. He appeared behind the jinni where he kicked him to his knees on the dirty old floor.
“You’ve disappointed me and you’ve bored me,” said Nick, walking round to face Apophis again.
Apophis looked up wearily. “You can’t kill me Nickolas,” he said venomously.
“Can’t I?” Nick asked. He opened his hand to the floor and his trouser leg lifted to allow the Ambrotos Dagger to fly free of his boot and into his palm. “You’re not as special as you make out. You’re immortal and this dagger kills immortals.”
“That dagger kills immortals that were created using its magic. I was not,” countered Apophis smugly.
“That is true. But with the power of the Promethean Flame behind it, I think it just might get the job done.”
The confidence slipped off Apophis’ face like an avalanche.
Clara looked over at Arthur, unable to suppress the smile breaking on her face. She never thought the day would come when she was pleased by the arrival of Nickolas Blackwood and yet that day was here. She couldn’t wrap her mind around the words Nickolas Blackwood saved the day. Arthur returned her smile and then they both faced the scene between the immortal and the jinni. Nick placed one hand on Apophis’ shoulder to hold him in place. To be extra sure, Olivia stood behind the jinni and held him in place too. Nick pulled the dagger back, preparing to stab Apophis in the heart when the jinni started to laugh. Nick faltered.
Just do it! Clara thought. Everyone knew that you didn’t hesitate in these situations. Never give the villain a chance to escape.
“What?” Nick asked, narrowing his eyes.
“The fight. It was so easy for you to win,” Apophis said, shaking his head. “What is the expression the modern folk use? Forgive me, I learned the language in such a short amount of time. I believe it is, I’m fucking with you.”
“What?” Nick said again, this time more confused.
Apophis thrust his palm into Nick’s chest and Nick soared across the room, his face a horrified expression of surprise. Before Olivia could react Apophis turned and gave her the same treatment. She hit the wall and fell. Unlike Nick she stayed down, blood running from her head. Clara made to get up, but Arthur grabbed her and held in place.
“Wait,” he whispered.
Nick rose to his feet and hurled a curse which Apophis batted aside. “Did you really think that a modified human could defeat the king of the jinn?” Apophis growled.
Nick shot three more curses in quick succession and Apophis blocked them all. Then Apophis sent one of his own. Nick raised his shield but it didn’t even slow the attack. The curse lifted him up off his feet and smashed him down into the floor, sending the dust up in thick clouds. To his credit, Nick did not stay down. He shot to his feet the moment he hit the ground and raced toward Apophis. The jinni was ready. Out of nowhere he conjured a heavy metal chain and with one sweep he wrapped it around Nick’s neck and yanked him back to the floor. Apophis pulled the chain upwards and hauled Nick through the air, smashing him into the wall. He did this again and again. Nick’s face grew bloodier and bloodier with each attack. The walls cracked and crumbled until barely any plaster was left on them, bare wood showed through the holes. Finally Nick managed to grab hold of the chain and break it in half, freeing himself from Apophis’ grasp. But Nick didn’t have the energy to stand. His leg wobbled beneath his weight and he fell heavily.
“Shall we see which of us is truly immortal?” Apophis asked as he advanced on the broken and bloody immortal who lay slumped in the corner. He bent towards the Ambrotos Dagger which lay discarded in the middle of the room.
“Don’t you want to see my surprise?” Nick asked. Already, his wounds were fading as he healed.
Apophis paused and looked over at Nick. “As it happens I do.” He straightened up, eyebrows raised.
“They’re just coming up the garden path,” Nick said. “They insisted on travelling by foot.” Nick rose from the ground and with a swipe of his hand cleared the blood from his face.
Apophis turned toward the door curiously. Nick took the opportunity to check on Olivia. He could hear her pulse. She’d be fine. It was better off if she stayed unconscious for now. He didn’t want to risk her coming to any further harm. Apophis was a tougher foe than he’d anticipated.
Footsteps approached the room.
“The Aramaya family, as it turned out, weren’t just created to guard Osiris. He gave them enough power to help him defeat you,” Nick said.
“He gave them what he thought was enough power to help him defeat me,” replied Apophis. “But I don’t see Osiris here.”
“No, well I killed him,” Nick confessed. “But don’t worry, his power is safe inside me.”
Through the door walked Cain Aramaya followed closely by his sons, Michael and Ramsay. Ramsay did not look at all happy to be here. They walked in silently and circled Apophis, preparing to attack. Not once did their eyes move from their target.
“Apophis of the jinn,” said Cain formally. “You are an enemy of the Kingdom of Osiris and will be put to death in the name of my king.”
“You do know Osiris is dead, don’t you? He literally just confessed to killing him,” Apophis said, pointing at Nick. “If anyone should be put to death it’s him.” Although Apophis was trying to pass the blame he in no way looked worried.
“I know my duty,” Cain said drily.
“As I recall, aren’t there supposed to be four of you?” Apophis asked.
The vampires made no reply and flew into action. All anyone could see was a blur of shapes with Apophis in the middle. The remaining jinni in the room, perhaps feeling left out, ran at Clara, throwing a spell. Arthur deflected it on her behalf and then father and daughter were locked in battle with the horrid woman. Spells were ricocheting all directions. Clara thought up the most powerful spell she knew and threw lightning at the jinni. It knocked her forwards where Arthur blasted her to smithereens with his Power-Ray spell. Clara tried to mask her envy.
There was a thud as one vampire hit the floor, followed swiftly by another. Cain was the only one left in the fight, but he was having trouble making any lasting damage to Apophis.
“Are they dead?” Clara asked, worried. Every attack bounced off the jinni like he was made of rubber.
“Doesn’t look like it,” Arthur replied, noticing that they hadn’t greyed like vampires usually did when killed.
“Winters!” Nick screamed over the fighting. Both of them turned to him. “We’ll take him together. Conjure the beam!”
“What?” Clara said in confusion. This night was full of surprises. First Nick was acting the hero and now he was telling them to fight alongside him. Clara knew she was dreaming now. But that wasn’t the issue she had. By beam she assumed he meant the Power-Ray spell that she as yet had failed to produce. “I can’t,” she confessed even as her father and Nick were getting into position, forming a triangle around the jinni.
“Sweetie, you can. You have the strength,” her father assured her.
“No, I can’t!” she cried, her breathing increasingly dangerously. She couldn’t do the Power-Ray spell, she’d never been able to do it and forcing her under press
ure was not the way to make it work. “I can’t figure out the right thought process or the mechanics of the spell. I can’t summon the power.”
“Stop thinking about anything!” Nick shouted. “Magic doesn’t work using thoughts, it works from feelings. Forget about thought processes and brain power. Feel your anger. Feel your fear. Let it all out and channel it at one target,” he instructed just as Cain hit the floor and slid away from Apophis.
Nick’s hands were glowing with dark power. Arthur’s were glowing with yellow power. Clara closed her eyes, ignored her thoughts and felt. She was terrified that right here, right now she was going to die at the hands of this jinni. She was furious that this monster had come to her town at the most inconvenient time when they had enough people to be fighting already. She was desperate for a way to fight back. A way to win. She felt the fear, the anger, the desperation. She let herself feel it, she let her feelings flow and then she felt the warmth in her hands. Opening her eyes she saw her hands glowing with silver power.
“Now!” Nick commanded and all three of them unleashed mighty beams of power which hit Apophis before he could summon a defence. Black, yellow and silver merged and submerged the jinni in a glow of magic. He disappeared entirely from view. Ecstasy roared through Clara at what she’d achieved. She poured all her emotion into the spell, forcing more and more power into the attack. Fighting like this, alongside her father, was the greatest experience she could ever ask for. Even if Nick was there too. Sparks of all colours were flying from the conversion point. If their lives weren’t at stake Clara might have admired how pretty it looked.
Then her beam flickered and disappeared. A burst of magic came back and knocked her off her feet, her will vanished with her power and all she could do was watch from the floor as her father suffered the same fate, followed by Nick. Apophis still stood where he had been only he looked entirely different. His human appearance was gone, obviously it had been a glamour which their attack had shattered. The man standing before them now was no man at all. His hair was gone leaving only baldness. His skin was dark grey, almost black, and didn’t look like skin at all, it looked more like rock, like the surface of a volcano. Cracks ran along it and glowing through the cracks, beneath his flesh was red hot magma. Clara saw him and had to fight the terror that tried to grip her. She wanted to run and if she could have stood then maybe she would have.
“You did your best,” he growled. “But your best fell far below the bar.”
There was a bang as the a hole tore in the ceiling and James came flying through. No jinni followed him and Clara assumed he’d won his fight. Apophis looked down at him and then casually waved his hand. James slid across the floor and smashed into the far wall next to Arthur. His neck twisted Unnaturally as he landed and he collapsed dead. Clara hoped it was a death he could return from.
“Now then, Nickolas, how about breaking that curse?” the jinni asked.
Nick rose to his knees and looked up at his enemy. How could he be so powerful? How could Osiris be foolish enough to think that he could ever defeat him. If Nick couldn’t do it with all his power than Osiris would never have stood a chance, not with three vampires on his side. Even if they were the first vampires of their… But Osiris was a shrewd man. Nick looked down at Cain whose unconscious body was next to him. Of course. Osiris had never meant for the vampires to fight Apophis directly. He’d just needed vessels that could carry his backup power reserves without dying. Living vessels which could follow him everywhere. Nick raised his hand and willed his finger nails to grow into long claws.
“What are you doing?” Apophis asked. He suspected a trick and so he should.
Nick dug his nails into Cain’s chest and pulled the power from within the ancient vampire. Nick felt its magnitude at once. A great torrent of magic flowing into him. It was nothing compared to the Promethean Flame, but it was so much more than most sorcerers would ever feel. Cain gasped and his eyes shot open. He couldn’t fight Nick, though. He had no strength. His hair withered and fell out, his flesh dried and cracked as it clung to his skin. The effect spread to his sons who were linked to him by Osiris’ magic. They too started to decay. Michael jumped up and bolted from the room, trying to put distance between himself and Nick. Ramsay got up and made for the door but Nick’s draining effect pulled him to his knees before he could get out of the room. On the other side of town, sitting in Morgan’s, Dean looked around in fearful wonder as all the vampires around him dropped to the ground, their skin wasting away. The Aramaya family had done a good job of spreading the magic across the world. Nick could not reach everyone, but he could reach enough.
Clara stared on as Nick’s monstrous form was revealed. His veins black, his eyes red, only this time both eyes and veins glowed with the magic he was siphoning from the vampires.
“Enough of this,” Apophis hissed and made for Nick.
Nick turned to smoke in the blink of an eye and shot at Apophis. Nick lifted him up but his neck and carried him away. The jinni screamed as the pair burst through the ceiling and disappeared from view. Nick carried him through the house, smashing him through ceiling, wall and roof. He poured the stolen magic into the jinni, feeling his enemy weaken. Apophis screamed and tried to attack back, but the attacks fizzled off Nick.
“We need to get out of here,” James said to Arthur as he returned to life. As the two of them approached Clara. Clara was helping Olivia into a sitting position now that she had woken up.
“Where’s Nickolas?” Olivia asked.
“Fighting Apophis,” Clara replied. She conveyed with her expression that it hadn’t been going well. They could hear the crashes and bangs as the fighters journeyed through the house.
“We can’t leave,” Arthur said. “Not until it’s done.”
Just that moment, the entire opposite wall exploded as Nick and Apophis burst in. They separated as they did, each flying to opposite sides of the room. Apophis rose to one knee and gestured at the shards of glass and wood from a destroyed cabinet. The wood and glass rose up and hurtled towards Nick. Nick raised his palm and the weapons froze in the air. Both struggled against one another and then Nick waved his free hand. The weapons transfigured into icicles and Nick sent them back at the jinni. As each icicle found a target in Apophis he screamed in anguish. The magma beneath his skin glowed more brightly and some oozed out. As the substance hit the floor wisps of steam rose and the wood eroded.
With a swipe of his hand the icicles vanished and Apophis swept his arms wide. He drew in magic and then released it in an explosion that knocked Clara and the others onto their backsides. Pain shot threw their heads like a thousand wasps were attacking their skulls. Blood trickled from Arthur’s nose. Nick was forced to take a step back, but that was all. Nick raised his head towards the sky which was now visible through the top of the semi-destroyed house. Thunder rolled above and lightning flashed. Sensing that Nick was preparing something big, Apophis ran for him. Nick ran too. Nick opened his hand and the Ambrotos Dagger flew into it yet again. He raised it high and a bolt of lightning hit the blade, charging it with power. Nick jumped up and thrust his foot into Apophis’ chest sending him reeling. Then Nick grabbed him by the shoulder forced him to arch backwards and brought the dagger down. Apophis got his arm up just in time to stop the attack, grabbing Nick’s wrist. Clara grabbed her father’s arm and squeezed, unable to contain the tension.
“I told you, Nickolas,” Apophis snarled. “There was supposed to be four.” Apophis grabbed Nick with his free hand and suddenly Nick was arching backwards and Apophis was leering over him.
“It doesn’t matter how many there were,” Nick spat. He pushed forward with the dagger, aiming for the jinni’s heart.
“The details always matter,” Apophis said. “Four might have been enough. Three definitely wasn’t.” With a sickening crack he twisted Nick’s wrist, snapping the bone. Nick let out only a small grunt as both his wrist and the dagger twisted so the blade was now aiming at his own heart.
&n
bsp; “No!” Olivia screamed and darted forwards. She hit a barrier and flew back.
“Let’s have no outside interference,” said Apophis. He pushed the dagger closer to Nick even whilst the immortal struggled. Clara’s heart was hammering in her chest painfully. Nobody moved, they were too transfixed by the struggle.
“You can’t win,” Nick said, through clenched teeth.
“You think that because you think you can’t die and all the while you live you’ll keep coming after me,” Apophis said. “I can see your thoughts now. You can’t fight me physically and mentally. I can see that you came here to kill me for her,” he nodded to Olivia. “But I can also see the truth. The truth in both your minds. The truth which neither one of you really wants to admit. The truth that really you don’t love each other anymore.”
“Liar!” should Nick. The dagger drew ever close. Only millimetres remained now.
“But the thought at the front of your mind is… You really think you can’t die. You think this dagger can’t kill you. Well it can. Yes, I see the memory of little Clara stabbing you. She didn’t have the power to wield the full potential of this blade. But I do.” The tip of the dagger touched Nick’s chest. “So you can rest assured that when you die tonight, in just a few seconds. You die for good.”
The dagger ripped through his chest and Nick screamed a long and rattling sound, that made Clara’s heart tremble. The sound rattled off the walls and carried up into the night sky. Then the fury and the shock and the fear faded from his face and only emptiness remained. The room was silent as black blood oozed from Nick’s eyes, his ears and his mouth. His red eyes returned to their natural blue and then glazed over completely. Apophis took his hands away and let Nick fall. He fell almost in slow motion. His body made a heavy thud as it hit the wooden floor and a thick cloud of dust rose up around it. His skin paled and greyed. His black veins vanished beneath his ever greying skin. His hair turned grey too as did the clothing he wore. What lay before the silent spectators was something that closely resembled a sand sculpture, only grey instead of brown. Then the entire body collapsed into a pile of ash. The Ambrotos Dagger remained suspended, its blade to the floor for a second or two before it fell noiselessly into the ashes of its master.
